Water Heater Repair in Lafayette, IN
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Groundwater this cold makes your heater work harder for eight months straight
From October through May, incoming water runs cold enough that your water heater has to work harder just to keep up with a normal shower or load of laundry. That means longer burn times on a gas unit or longer element runs on electric, and both wear down parts faster than they would in a milder climate.
Tippecanoe County also sees its share of hard winters, with 10 winter storms and 83 damaging wind events over the past ten years. When storms knock out power, most water heaters come back on by themselves once it returns, but a unit that was already struggling with a bad thermostat or a failing element may not recover the way it should. If your water isn't getting hot, or takes longer than it used to, that's often where it starts.
- 21°F
- the average winter night, and colder incoming water means longer heating
- 8 months
- October through May, the months homes here need heat
- 17%
- of Indiana households lost power for a day or more in 2024, and a heater with an electric element or electric ignition stops without it
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new water heater would cut about $50 a year off hot water for a typical Indiana home.
Estimates for a typical Indiana home, compared with an older unit built to the federal minimum, from EIA household energy data and Indiana fuel prices. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when an element, thermostat or gas valve has failed.
Replacement makes sense when the tank itself is leaking.
- Why is my water heater leaking from the bottom?
- Water at the bottom of the tank usually means the tank itself has failed inside. Years of heating and cooling water wears at the tank lining until it cracks, and once that happens the leak will not stop or seal itself. It can also be a loose drain valve or a fitting at the bottom, which is a much smaller fix. A contractor needs to look at where the water is actually coming from before you know which one you have.
- Why won't the pilot light on my water heater stay lit?
- Most of the time this means the thermocouple, the small sensor that tells the gas valve the pilot is burning, is worn out or out of position. If it can't sense the flame, the gas valve shuts off the pilot as a safety measure. A dirty or partly blocked pilot tube can cause the same thing. Either one is a repair a contractor can usually make without replacing the whole water heater.
- Can a tankless water heater be repaired?
- Yes, most problems in a tankless water heater are repairable. The igniter, the flow sensor, and the heat exchanger are the parts that fail most often, and each can be replaced on its own. Mineral buildup inside the unit is common too, especially if it has never been flushed, and that can be cleaned rather than replaced. A contractor can test the unit to find which part is causing the problem.